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Arctic Decision a Victory for Traditional Conservative Principles

The defeat of the latest scheme to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling was a victory for conservative principles of good government, fiscal responsibility, national security, and conservation of our natural heritage, said REP, the national grassroots organization of Republicans for Environmental Protection.

"We are very pleased that the Arctic Refuge is still protected for the benefit and enjoyment of all Americans," REP Government Affairs Director David Jenkins said. "For this bipartisan victory, Americans owe a debt of gratitude to courageous Republicans who bucked Senator Ted Stevens and his parochial, pork barrel agenda. We thank the Republican senators who opposed his selfish gambit and we also thank the two dozen House Republicans who kept Arctic drilling out of a budget bill. Had they not stood firm, Arctic drilling would have been rushed into law through a budget bill that cannot be filibustered."

"We are very proud of Senators Lincoln Chafee and Mike DeWine, who helped block Stevens' scheme to muscle his oil drilling hobby horse through Congress by hanging it onto a vital defense appropriations bill. Had Stevens succeeded, it would have set a terrible precedent for lawmakers to violate Senate rules and hold vital appropriations bills hostage to their narrow, special interest agendas. Thanks to our conservation-minded Republican lawmakers, good government won the day," Jenkins said.

The protection of the Arctic Refuge was a victory for fiscal responsibility, greater energy security, and conservation.

"Stevens and his allies have, time and again, trotted out shaky drilling revenue estimates. At a time of spiraling increases in the federal government's debt, Congress has a fiduciary duty to the taxpayers to avoid basing its budgeting decisions on the kind of speculative, crap-shoot revenue estimates that Stevens and company touted," REP Policy Director Jim DiPeso said.

"Drilling the Arctic would raise false hopes and impede meaningful progress toward strengthening America's energy security. Futile pining for the glory days of American self-sufficiency in oil makes no sense. Drilling the Arctic Refuge would do little to reduce oil imports and almost nothing to lower gasoline or heating oil prices," DiPeso said.

"Now that the distracting Arctic drilling battle is over, the time has come for our leaders to focus on forward-looking energy solutions that will reduce our country's dangerous dependence on oil, save money, create economic opportunities in new energy technologies, and reduce pollution," DiPeso said.

"The Arctic Refuge is a spectacular place like nowhere else in America. President Dwight D. Eisenhower protected the Refuge in 1960 so that future generations of Americans could marvel at its vast array of wildlife, enjoy its beauty, and experience the epic wildness that shaped our country's history and culture. Thanks to courageous Republicans in the House and Senate, President Eisenhower's legacy of good stewardship is still intact, serving as an inspiring example that his political successors in the Republican Party leadership could learn a great deal from," DiPeso said.

For more information about Republicans for Environmental Protection, visit the REP America website.